TENOM: Kemabong State Assemblyman Datuk Rubin Balang concurs with the decision made by the District Development Committee meeting in which they want the Public Works Department (PWD) to uphold the original decision to upgrade the 24-kilometer road from Kampung Kaang end to Kuala Tomani.
He said the decision was made because the Committee was concerned that the upgrading and asphalting will be severely damaged before the road was completed.
“If works start from Kuala Tomani end, the roads may be damaged even before work is completed because the logging activity using the road in Kuala Tomani areas are in full swing now,” he told reporters after attending the meeting held at the district office here on Friday.
The meeting was chaired by District Officer, Madiyem Layappan and attended by Rural Development Minister cum Melalap Assemblyman, Datuk Radin Malleh, Tenom Member of Parliament, Datuk Raime Unggi and heads of State and Federal government department.
Rubin said the meeting also decided that the Pan Borneo highway projects must include roads from Keningau to Sipitang through Tenom as they were stated as Federal Roads.
In addition, he said, the committee also urged the government to speed up the upgrading of the train runway and services between Tenom to Beaufort and if this attempt fails, the committee also decided that the proposed road construction from Tenom to Beaufort should be continued.
In the meantime, Rubin also urged the government to accelerate the construction of the 500-metre roads leading to the SMK Chinta Mata.
In addition, he said work on the bridge in Inalisan (Natanduan bridge) should be monitored by PWD because it may not be completed on schedule if works are often delayed even though the work progress report showed 90 per cent so far.
Rubin, who is also Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) said the meeting also urged the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) to reduce the charges to the extent of minimum 50% use of supply in this area.
“Such actions are in line with the wishes of the people in the Interior who often complain of frequent power outages since the year 2013,” he said.